Ondo: Labour Party and the Israeli connection

In the news, we have read of movements of men of curious motives and appearances in Ondo State. We have also read in the newspapers of the Labour Party’s investment in training of some men in Israel. The purpose, according to the reports, was to equip them with skills to manoeuvre for which the Israelis are well-known.

The election for the post of governor in Ondo State has been billed as a battle between Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP), who has been seen by his opponents in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as a cheerful turncoat. The ACN candidate is Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN). In many ways, this is also a battle between integrity and opportunism, and the ACN has presented itself as the party of conscience. The LP defines integrity differently. It sees integrity as a sort of independence from what many in Yorubaland see as an enlightened impulse of integration.

But whatever the conflicting impulses, what it should not be is a celebration of violence and the supremacy of what is sometimes called machine politics. When a party decides that part of the logic of winning an election is sending a group of persons to Israel to learn how to make and throw bombs, it is surrender to a brutish lifestyle.

The matter was serious, according to the ACN candidate Akeredolu, that he made a formal report to the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. According to what he described as intelligence report reaching the ACN, about 50 persons in the Labour Party were sent to Israel to train in a company called NIRTAL Limited.

The claim is that “They are believed to be sponsored by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State Governor and candidate of the Labour Party in the October 20 governorship election.

“The scope of the training, according to our discovery, includes, offensive, tactical training, shooting AK-47 live ammunitions in a shooting range and in dedicated facility. We are also aware that this special squad has been trained in the act of bomb making.

“According to our findings, about 50 members of the Labour Party have undergone this dastardly training. Many more are said to be there at present.

“The returnees (Israeli-trained militia) are believed to be strategically distributed in different parts of the state ahead of the election. The predictable consequence of this terrorist tutelage is better imagined.”

There are reports of some people already parading Ondo State, and some observers are finding it difficult to identify whether they belong to the National Guard or whether they are implants of the Labour Party.

The way of the thug is often associated with the worst in Nigeria politics, and Hardball understands that it has become a tool both of offence and of defence in Nigerian quicksand political terrain. The Labour Party needs to come out and dissociate itself entirely from this portent of bloodshed.

We cannot forget that a few months ago, the LP was accused serially of involvement in acts of violence until the ACN issued a stern warning that it would not tolerate any form of brigandage in the state without bringing the culprits to the full force of the law. Although it continued, it was checkmated by countervailing action.

What this means is that tension has overtaken the state. As the governor, he should borrow a leaf next door from Edo State governor who did not carry out any form of thuggery, but he relied on the supreme will of the people. It is not the bomb but the vote that makes democracy.

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With all due respect, there is nothing hard about this hardball. I will not hold brief for mimiko, but nigerians know how he ascended to power and how well he has performed so far. These allegations, supposedly base on intelligent reports, is a shame and nothing but a mechanism to rubbish one in order to score cheap political points. if this is true, then acn should go beyond mere alarm raising and prove it beyond all reasonable doubts. ACN,LP,PDP- and other political parties cannot boast of any political saints. We dont have that in the nigerian political landscape.
So, hardball should desist from these sentiments, as clearly portrayed in this piece. I case the rest